U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the new pope and leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Pope Leo XIV, a senior cardinal announced on May 8 to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), this marks the first time Ukrainian authorities have exposed a Hungarian military intelligence network conducting activities harmful to Ukraine.
George Simion, leader of Romania's far-right AUR party, who won the first round of the presidential election with nearly 40% of the vote, reiterated that if elected, he would oppose any further assistance to Ukraine and shift Romania’s focus inward.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed their countries' relationship on May 8, vowing to increase cooperation in all areas, including military ties.
"There is Turkey, which maintains channels of communication. And then, above all, there is the People's Republic of China, which, more than anyone else, has the means to make (Russian President Vladimir) Putin come to the negotiating table and soften his demands," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on May 8.
The United States will be ready to "walk away" from the negotiating table if it does not see Russia making progress in negotiation to end the war, U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on May 8.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico arrived in Moscow on May 9 to celebrate Victory Day, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
US President Donald Trump on May 8 called for a "30-day unconditional ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia. Writing on Truth Social, Trump expressed his hope for "an acceptable ceasefire," with both countries "held accountable for respecting the sanctity of... direct negotiations."
President Volodymyr Zelensky had a "constructive" phone call with United States President Donald Trump on May 8, discussing the war, continued pressure on Russia, and a potential ceasefire.
The survey, conducted between April 24 and May 4, shows that 56.9% of respondents would not be willing to compromise on either territorial integrity or Ukraine’s pro-Western direction in any potential talks with Moscow.
Despite the Kremlin’s announcement of a May 8–11 truce, heavy fighting continued in multiple regions throughout the day.
The German software giant SAP appears to have been hypocritical about its promises to stop providing cloud services to Russian clients over Russia's war in Ukraine.
According to a document obtained by the Kyiv Independent, just a day before the company’s public announcement to shut down its cloud services in Russia, SAP had sent its Russian customers a letter offering to migrate their data outside of Russia in order to maintain access to its services.
SAP had not responded to the Kyiv Independent’s request for comment by the time of publication.
Sent on March 23 by SAP's Executive Board, the letter says that the company will be unable to service its data centers in Russia and recommends that Russian clients move their cloud data to centers located outside the country.
“Many factors, including the loss of redundancy, supply chain issues and the inability to secure service and support, are prompting us to actively plan to manage your solutions outside of Russia,” the letter reads.
SAP offered the migration option to Russian clients free of charge.
“We are striving to uphold our commitments to your business during these extraordinary times and appreciate your partnership to achieve the greatest possible outcome for your business,” the letter reads.
The document does not mention Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has ostensibly been the reason for the mass exodus of international companies from Russia.
The letter’s tone drastically contrasts SAP’s public statements regarding Russia’s war.
On March 24, SAP issued a press release saying: “Russia’s ongoing unjustified war is a heartbreaking display of brutality and a violation of the fundamental principle of freedom that we share with Ukraine.”
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to support Ukraine by stopping all sales and shutting down cloud operations in Russia,” the statement reads.
SAP has a handful of notorious clients in Russia. They include energy companies Gazprom and Rosneft, Sberbank, Rosselkhozbank, and VTB Bank, all of which are under economic sanctions imposed by the U.S., EU and U.K. over Russia’s war against Ukraine.
In a March 2 public statement, SAP’s Chief Christian Klein said the company was stopping business in Russia and Belarus to align with sanctions and pausing all sales of its services and products in Russia and Belarus. The company, however, did not address whether Russian and Belarusian businesses could continue using its services under existing contracts.
